The Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) has received the second of four Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) it ordered from the United States in 2014.
Harry Harris, the US ambassador to South Korea, released an image on 19 April showing two Global Hawks in RoKAF markings parked in a hangar at an undisclosed location. Via Twitter the ambassador congratulated “the US-RoK Security Cooperation teams on delivering Global Hawk to the RoK this week”.
Harris did not specify the number of UAVs delivered, but a RoKAF official told Janes the following day that only one UAV had recently been handed over, meaning that the photograph published by Harris shows the RoKAF's first Global Hawk alongside the recently delivered second one.
Two RoKAF RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs in a hangar at an undisclosed location. US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris released the image on 19 April in a Twitter post (US Government / Via US Ambassador Harry Harris Twitter account)
A few days earlier, on 9 April, the Yonhap News Agency had quoted South Korean military officials as saying that two more Global Hawks were expected to arrive in South Korea in April, following the arrival of the first one on 23 December 2019 at the RoKAF's Sacheon Air Base in South Gyeongsang Province.
The media outlet also reported that the RoKAF aims to start operating the UAVs by the end of 2020, adding that the service has already set up a reconnaissance squadron in charge of the platforms.
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